LetsRun.com is Officially Against the Soda (ang Gatorade and Tea) Tax: Join With Us

bladerunner wrote:

We tried prohibition once. Didn't work.

We tax the crap out of alcoholic products and they're doing pretty well.

Top Noticer wrote:

bladerunner wrote:

We tried prohibition once. Didn't work.

We tax the crap out of alcoholic products and they're doing pretty well.

Thats because alcoholic products demands are most of the time inelastic.

wejo wrote:

I don't want the government telling what to eat especially with a product where the link to health problems is very remote.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Lmao!

Very remote?

Here is a summary of the situation from Harvard, a source you should have no issue with given your reputed pedigree.

Wejo, you should really think twice before posting something like this. Without even getting into your obvious lack of knowledge on the issue, the whole thing is unprofessional and inappropriate. Focus on the eradication of doping in sports as your sole public issue.

You guys clearly how no qualms about deleting posts, this time around you need to delete your own. For your own good.

wejo wrote:I just checked out this website

http://www.berkeleyvsbigsoda.com/faq

and the proponents of the tax seem most concerned about protecting kids from diabetes.

There are better ways to do that.

To his credit Wejo recognizes the obesity problem that we all end up paying for through increased medical expenses, but I still don't see much difference between Berkeley taxing sugar water and dry communities banning/controlling alcohol sales.

If Wejo still lives in Texas maybe he can share his position on dry counties because this map shows they are everywhere in Texas. Wejo can't possibly be against a dry (sugar water) city (Berkeley where he doesn't live) and for dry counties in Texas.

The tax sounds perfectly reasonable to me. The way you put it, I am totally in favor of it!

wejo wrote:Considering the founders of this site are not obese and drink a lot of Dr. Pepper (myself) and Coke & Dr. Pepper (Robert) we are really opposed to this tax.

I think Weldon and Robert Johnson live in Texas. Weldon shared that he and his brother are not fat. Fair enough, but as elite runners they are an exception for Texas.

Among Texas's adults age 18 and over 1

•65.9% of adults were overweight, with a Body Mass Index of 25 or greater

•31.0% of adults were obese, with a Body Mass Index of 30 or greater

Among Texas’s adolescents in grades 9 through 12 2

•15.6% were overweight (>85th and `` 95th percentiles for BMI by age and sex)

•13.6% were obese (%%95th percentile for BMI by age and sex)

I'm old as dirt, and when I was a kid there were only a handful of fat kids in my K-12 schools. Something is going on here because the U.S. is getting fatter. I'm not saying Berkeley is right about steep taxes on sugar water but at least they are trying to do something. If Wejo has better ideas I'm all for hearing what he has to say. Letsrun might be a great platform for getting kids more active and eating better.

I enjoy lots of the non-running threads on the message boards, but I find this one -- the site taking an "official" stand on a contentious issue that has nothing to do with running -- highly distasteful. I really hope you don't make a habit of promoting your own political views on the site.

jgfsjjdghjdhgj wrote:

aslan wrote:

Unhealthy lifestyles create a burden on public infrastructure (health care etc.), so it's not economically ridiculous to tax products that are so clearly contributing to the problem. Oversimplified, it's just correcting for a negative externality. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, and the idea that the government should tax certain food products they disapprove of is a little shaky.

But it's not ridiculous.

Where does this end though? Should pie be taxed because people can eat a lot of it and get fat? Cake? Cookies?

You raise a fair point, which is the slippery slope that I called "shaky" earlier.

There is a line to be drawn somewhere, and whether that line is drawn at "no regulation" or somewhere else is an involved issue that will not be resolved on this message board.

But Wejo is overzealous to suggest that this is some clear-cut government overreach atrocity that we can all stand together in opposing.

wongg wrote:

wejo wrote:

I don't want the government telling what to eat especially with a product where the link to health problems is very remote.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Lmao!

Very remote?

Here is a summary of the situation from Harvard, a source you should have no issue with given your reputed pedigree.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sugary-drinks-fact-sheet/

All of you who are spouting off about how awesome this Harvard health report is, and bashing Wejo for not using scientific merit in his proposal, you are all guilty of the same. Where in this report is physical activity mentioned as a mitigator for sugary drink consumption? Why are we to assume they everyone who consumes these beverages overconsumes them EVERY time they drink it? Why are we not instructing these people on moderation and variety in eating, but instead outright banning (effectively, with tax) these foods? How does that teach someone a healthy lifestyle? Do you really think that simply restricting foods will solve all metabolic health problems?

And for the person who said that drinking soda while being very physically active (i.e., running several miles a day) will cause insulin resistance...nonsense. Show me the evidence for that claim. You know what prevents insulin resistance? Exercise. That's why it is the first line of defense in newly-diagnosed T2 diabetics if there are no contraindications.

The Johnsons grew up around the corner from Dr Peppers.

The U.S. is getting fat. What's your solution?

The United State has a rich history of local governments enacting laws in an attempt to fix something. If it is unconstitutional then the judicial branch of government will step in. It's an experiment that the rest of the country will learn from. If you don't like it don't move to Berkeley.

Rod Munch wrote:

And for the person who said that drinking soda while being very physically active (i.e., running several miles a day) will cause insulin resistance...nonsense. Show me the evidence for that claim. You know what prevents insulin resistance? Exercise. That's why it is the first line of defense in newly-diagnosed T2 diabetics if there are no contraindications.

You are pretty much correct here. Also, other "first line(s) of defense" for T2D: less calories (extremely important, the breakdown of calories less so), less sat fat (can also lead to insulin resistance in excess). And yes, less soda too (because of high "empty" calories in soda, and excess fructose consumption leading to fatty liver and potentially fatty pancreas.)

But soda is not the only reason Americans are fat and have T2D. Not by a long shot. So, I see both points of view. Singling out soda is a bit much, but because americans consume so much of it, it is a health issue. (One can say: you gotta start somewhere, or.....is the start of the "slippery slope"?) However, most americans that consume a lots of soda, ALSO consume lots of double bacon cheeseburgers, french fries, pizza, and desserts, and are often sedentary. It's all that put together, *not* just, or even primarily, soda, by any stretch of the imagination. But cutting back on soda is a good step for most obese/t2diabetics.

Come on Weldon, you aren't quite as trim as you used to be. Another 25lbs and you will look like a legit Dr.Pepper guzzling Muriken!

I never saw that, very funny. not bad for wejo for running in long pants. And I love how he sucked it up big time and REALLY kicked hard once he saw the guys fading in front. He smelled blood.

But rojo??? 2:48 and completely winded?? WTF? Truly embarrassing. THERE's your Dr Pepper casualty.

Can we all take a moment and enjoy Flotrack when it was great before they hired these new idiots that don't know how to commentate a live race.....

And despite

,

the two data models were

and

but not protein intake(?!), despite the tremendous influence it has on levels of insulin, glucagon and glucose, such as

So maybe Wejo just needs to eat more meat along with that disgusting Doctor Pepper. And more magnesium.

Join or Die!

So, how do you feel about eliminating the agricultural subsidies that make corn syrup more inexpensive than foreign sugar.

Why should I subsidize your addiction to sugar water?